Posts by Jim Cathcart
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Hard News: Steve, 1999, in reply to Russell Brown,
"Why isn’t there an entry-level DAC that’s iPod-ready – i.e., an iPod dock with a third-party DAC? That would be good
Onkyo had been working on this in Japan, but they have still yet to progress from the digital media transport. http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/5625
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Field Theory: Japan moves, in reply to linger,
t has been quite difficult to get accurate information in English through official media in Japan. The NHK evening news broadcasts at 7pm & 9pm are usually translated, though with uneven comprehensibility and accuracy: several of their translators are really not able to keep up with breaking news.
NHK has long been a propaganda tool for the LDP. Whatever its charter is, if it has one at all, the broadcaster will always bow to the bureaucrats. NHK World was first introduced to give Japan some kind of international "presence" for the state broadcaster. However, its budget is pathetic and it is run by chain-smoking ojis who are cruising towards retirement. NHK has superb coverage of quakes and typhoons in Japanese though. Probably among the best in the world with or without all the snazzy HD eye candy.
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Also, it’s one thing to evacuate a small bunch of ex-pats, quite another to evacuate the population of a region as densely populated as Japan.
At least 125,000 people have been evacuated from Fukushima, but you're right in that it's difficult to move people from Ibaraki, Gunma, Tochigi, or even Chiba. However, what is bothering people is that they don't have the information to make an informed decision for themselves of for those they are responsible for.
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Running out of iodine tablets in Japan. Rumors are rife with radiation being recorded even in the areas such as Nara. Stock market in chaos. The following letter is from Eric Johnston:
Dear All,
The situation in Tokyo appears grim today. Rumours are flying fast, and seperating fact from fiction is ever-more difficult. But the Fukushima nuclear plant is in deep trouble, and it is growing increasingly likely that there will be the beginnings of a mass exodus from the Kanto region. We are hearing that the France embassy has already advised people to leave the region. Regardless, the rumours alone are going to cause people who can to flee the region.The prefectures of Kansai said yesterday they would be willing to take in refugess from the quake and tsunami, but we, all of us, need to think about what we might do to help our region cope with the possibility of a mass influx of people to Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe, even for a short period of time. I have no suggestions at present, but just wanted to share my thoughts with you all. Keep watching the news and Japanese government websites, and let's hope for the best.
Eric
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Field Theory: Japan moves, in reply to Hadyn Green,
The media knows very little about Japan or can't understand the language, so we get garbled reports that are repeated. When the disaster was here we had the knowledge to be able to filter out incorrect information quickly.
Actually, that is not a fair comment. While I agree that the Western media tends to focus on the wacky side of Japan, there are many non-Japanese journalists who have actually pushed the envelope in search of the truth in Japan. For example, fluent Japanese speaker Eric Johnston of The Japan Times first covered the problems in Japan's nuclear power industry in his book “Japan’s Nuclear Nightmare: Power to the People?" For a Japanese journalist to publish something as critical would probably mean the end of any mainstream career in journalism in Japan. The following article written by Johnston is illuminating considering what is happening right now.
http://www.fccj.or.jp/node/2759
Secondly, the Japanese press clubs ('kisha') are still notorious for excluding foreign journalists, regardless of Japanese ability. There is a monopoly on information shared by the major news organizations, particularly the Yomiuri. The situation has improved but foreign reporters have long suffered because of this archaic system.
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I’m not quite as “comfortable” about Tokyo as Robyn appears to be. I think media coverage in Japan is always hampered by how information is handled by power structures. Anyone who has lived in Japan for some time should understand that. Wikipedia has been the best source of information for understanding the issues and potential problems at each of the affected nuclear power plants. However, both the Western and Japanese media have largely added to the confusion. Conflicting information and opinions have made this crisis worse.
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Doing something about negative gearing would be one hell of a difficult. Not being able to treat interest repayments as a business expense would be a major change in accountancy practices right across the entire economy. Yes, it would dwarf CGT.
Why would it be difficult? You would simply have to prove to IRD that you are running a legitimate profit concern. Yes, providing a service to tenants is a legitimate business, but how many banks lend capital to small business people who can only stump up 10% of funding? The risk profiles are completely different.
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OnPoint: Election 2011: GO!, in reply to BenWilson,
I definitely agree with her that easy debt fuels inflation. That’s pretty much received wisdom since the GFC.
Well that's when the mainstream became aware of it. Understanding the relationship between monetary easing, fractional reserve banking (or banking capital ratios), and wholesale money markets is important. Furthermore, it is clearly obvious that the Clark govt wasn't going to upset the party by warning people of the possible consequences.
For all this talk of the effectiveness of CGT, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the influence of tax relief for the middle and rich prick classes through negative gearing. If you quantify the amount of tax loss there, I suspect it would far surpass that of CGT. -
OnPoint: Election 2011: GO!, in reply to BenWilson,
Ben, I think Kate identified quite clearly that the banks have a huge hand to play in all of this. Lax capital reserve ratios and easy credit have created the debt quagmire. Surely, controlling lending and liquidity (while taxpayers carry the implicit guarantee for bank runs) is a much more credible solution than playing Robin Hood.
But you're right, she doesn't provide any argument against CGT. Kate's is an ideological position that gets to the crux of the debt problem. -
In my opinion, Cactus Kate's latest blog post hits the nail on the head regarding the problem with NZ savings and the investment property "scam" that forms the basis of our economy.